User blog:Gcapp1959/Degrassi 1.0.1 - segment four
By the end of November, Voula and Geoff were ready to privately consider each other more than just a friend. They’d watched two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s second season; “The Child” was pretty good, while “Where Silence Has Lease” left them feeling rather uninspired. Mr. Grivogiannis unexpectedly asked Voula to tell him when the next school dance was, and so she and Geoff would be welcome to go to it. But the kids at school figured it out for themselves. Geoff and Voula were too steady and chummy. And one Friday afternoon, Harold “Gair” LeGere insisted on taking Geoff to the pharmacy, but wouldn’t say why. “You need something here, and I’m gonna get it for you.” At the “family planning” section, Harold snuck a package of condoms into his jacket. “What are you doing?” Geoff said in not too quiet a voice. “Shhh!” Harold whispered. “C’mon.” “No,” Geoff said. “You’re planning on stealing that, aren’t you?” “Will you stop it? Wha’d’ya think you’re gonna do? Pay for them? You wanna be like Shane and Spike? You gotta use...” “No, because I don’t want those things. Not by paying for them, not by stealing them. Voula and I are doing nothing like what Shane and Spike did.” Geoff turned and walked away, looking for the office, patting his jacket and pants as he did so in case Harold had pulled a fast one. Harold looked around, put the condoms back, and shuffled toward the exit. He was stopped. “Where’s your friend?” the store manager asked. “What friend?” Harold sneered. “I was just looking.” Geoff heard and came over. “I’m his friend,” Geoff said. “Or at least I was, or he thought I was, or perhaps I never was. He wanted to... obtain something for me. I never wanted it... and I certainly didn’t want him to steal anything for me.” “Steal?!” Harold hissed. “I very clearly saw you put the package into your jacket. Gair, you intended to walk out without paying. To me, that’s stealing.” “I don’t have anything!” Harold insisted. “If that’s so, Gair, then you should voluntarily let yourself be searched,” Geoff declared. “Maybe you put it back. You can avoid a whole heap of trouble if you did put it back, and let the man search you.” “Go ahead,” Harold said to the manager. A search revealed nothing. “Nevertheless, I’ll need to see you in the office. I intend to ban you from entering this store for a period of time.” Harold sighed loudly. “It’s better than being charged by the police with mischief,” the manager advised. He turned to Geoff. “And you... I want you to go to the front counter and ask for an application for employment, and tell them to give it to me, personally.” “I’m only 13! I’m too young to work here!” “I know, I figured. But I’m going to be giving you a call on your sixteenth birthday. Go on.” Geoff and Harold exchanged equal expressions of surprise. ** “He wanted to steal some condoms for you?” Voula asked with amazement. “Why? Why you?” “Harold seemed to think that I needed them. He and the other boys seem to think that now that they’ve figured out that you consider me your boyfriend, that I need to...” Geoff sighed, looking up into space. “Prove my love.” “Geoff... you do care about me, don’t you?” Geoff looked down again and gazed into her eyes. “I think I do.” “I’m not ready to call it love. Does that bother you?” “No, Voula, no, it doesn’t. I’m not either. I just know that you’re special to me and I like to spend time with you.” “But, if we did... feel that way... how would you prove it?” “By being... loyal to you. Truthful to you. Helpful. Trying not to hurt you.” Geoff shook his head. “Sex isn’t the way. It has to wait... like we agree... until marriage. My sex is for my wife, whoever she is. And I still... have this thought that... you could be my wife someday if things keep going for us.” “That’s good enough proof for me, Geoff.” ** One of Mr. Grivogiannis’ rental properties was vacated at the end of November. Following some repairs and other work, it was to be rented out again for 1 January. Mr. Grivogiannis had actually been considering moving his family out there, in Scarborough, and renting out the 49th Street house instead. However, though the Scarborough house was a bit roomier and newer, staying near his office was an important factor. The fact that his daughter had a friend who he had a high opinion about was another factor. Leonidas had been somewhat concerned about whether Degrassi was a suitable place for his daughter, after she was influenced by them to go to a dance he had disallowed of her. But Geoff seemed to be a responsible influence on Voula. It seemed foolish to break them up, at least while neither of them had cars or driver’s licences. So Mr. Grivogiannis was inclined to keep his family in the Boulton neighbourhood and rent out the Scarborough house. He would make his final decision on that around 20 December, by which time he would need to advise a new tenant of acceptance at the Scarborough location. ** Early in December, Lucy and Voula went shopping at a Towers Department Store. Voula was happy to at least browse, but when Lucy discovered that Voula particularly liked one item, Lucy snuck it into her bag. Voula was first stunned and quietly protested. Then she remembered Geoff telling her of the incident with Harold. Voula decided quiet protest was not going to do it. “Lucy, put it back... now.” Her voice was not quiet. “Shh!” Lucy admonished Voula. “Just be casual.” “No, Lucy. That’s wrong. When I said I don’t have any money right now and you said that’s okay, I thought you meant you were going to lend me money or something. Not this. Now, c’mon, put it back. I’m not going to allow this!” “Voula, come on, they expect to lose stuff.” “That doesn’t mean we have to be part of that problem!” “Will you come on, already?!” Lucy was shuffling away toward the escalator. Voula hung back, shaking her head, then turning to notice a woman watching Lucy. When the woman glanced at Voula, Voula made a face of appeal. Voula’s face read, “Stop my foolish friend, will you, please?” The woman hesitated but decided to go after the obvious thief. Voula followed the woman, who was evidently some sort of security person. Lucy was boxed in on the escalator, and escorted to the store’s security office. Voula tagged along. “Are you with her?” the woman asked Voula. Voula sighed. “I’m with my foolish friend. I didn’t know what to do! But I didn’t want to go along with it!” The woman nodded. “I kind of figured that.” “You go ahead and search me,” Voula said. “I haven’t got anything to hide.” The woman gestured Voula into a room, frisked Voula over, and stepped back, satisfied. “Okay, you can go ahead and leave.” “I’d... like to wait for my... for her. See that she gets home safely.” “That’s quite generous for you, considering she almost got you into trouble. But the police will be making sure she gets home, I imagine.” “I see,” Voula said, downcast. She sighed. “Do you lose a lot of stuff because of shoplifting?” “A lot,” the woman said. “And it means higher prices for everyone else.” “I figured as much. I wish Lucy would think about that.” ** Voula couldn’t go directly home. She needed to talk to Geoff, whose own action with Harold had inspired her. She reached Geoff’s home at 2223 47th Street, and knocked at the front door. “Hello, Voula,” Richard Capp said on opening the door. “Hi, Mr. Capp. Is Geoff home?” “Always. Geoff?! Voula’s here.” “Voula?!” Geoff was surprised. “You’re out kind of late.” “Yeah. I just got off the bus around the block. Would you... walk me home?” “Sure,” Geoff replied. He went and got his boots, jacket and toque and they went out the door; fluffy flakes of snow had just begun to fall. “Is something wrong?” “Yeah. Lucy offered to take me shopping, but what I didn’t realize is that she intended to shoplift anything I wanted, after I told her I don’t have any money.” “Oh, no.” “But I did what you did with Harold. I made a noise. And they caught her and I was okay.” Voula sighed as they walked along. “Geoff, what Lucy did is wrong, but I still feel bad for her.” “I know,” Geoff nodded. “Lucy’s parents... I think they’re part of the problem. They seem to have such busy lives. They’ll have those careers and such for years yet, but Lucy’s only going to be with them for a short time longer. They really need to put their foot down and say, ‘one of us needs to be home with our girl’.” “You’re right. We have our parents at home. She doesn’t.” Voula proceeded to tell Geoff the whole thing. “You wanted to wait for her and go home with her, huh?” “Yeah. Kinda weird, huh?” “I don’t think so. I think Lucy needs a caring friend. Someone to be strong for her. Someone who can anchor her back to... back to what’s right. Maybe you can be that anchor, if she’ll forgive you for blowing her cover.” “That’s the problem, Geoff. She probably won’t talk to me again except to snipe at me.” Geoff instinctively wrapped his arm around Voula’s shoulders. “I guess... sometimes... being a friend means to make your friend mad at you.” “Geoff, if Lucy will let me be her friend... be an anchor for her... I’m gonna need help.” “Can I help, Voula? I don’t know how I can, but...” “Well... Spike has her counseling group... but, um... I don’t think that’s the kind of help I need.” “I don’t think I can really identify with Lucy myself.” “But you can identify with me, Geoff. Be with me? And I’ll be there for Lucy if I can.” “Please tell me what you’d like me to do.” Voula stopped shuffling along and turned to Geoff as he stopped. “Oh, Geoff... you just don’t know yourself. My mama and papa have a very high opinion of you. It just keeps going up. You may not think you’re mature, and they just think that’s so... honest of you to underestimate yourself. But the way you’re being so cautious... so restrained... thinking of others...” She sighed with a smile on her face. “I really look up to you.” Geoff smiled at that. Voula was more than two inches taller than him. “Geoff... I’ve been convinced of this for weeks. I love you.” Geoff was a little shaken by that. Voula had just raised the bar. But he didn’t doubt her word. Geoff raised his arms and embraced hers. “You know me... I’m... hesitant to declare my feelings. Voula, I can’t say that... I can’t say the same thing in return. Not yet. But... I do know this. If I couldn’t see you anymore, it’d hurt. It would hurt a lot.” Geoff’s eyes were intense. “That’s all I need to hear for now,” Voula whispered. Then she offered her lips to Geoff, and they kissed as the snow fell around them. Then Geoff finished walking her home. Voula told her parents about the whole affair at the store. They agreed that Lucy needed a solid friend, and said Voula could be that friend, as long as Lucy didn’t want to go somewhere that she might get into trouble. Then Voula told them how she felt about Geoff. “And he said...” Eudocia Grivogiannis hesitated with a smile on her face. “Not that he loves you, but that it would hurt if he couldn’t see you again?” “That’s right, Mama. That works for me.” “It works for me, too, Voula,” her father declared. “I hope your young man soon feels sure enough to know he’s more mature than he now allows himself to think.” “Give him a couple of years, Papa. At least one. I think Geoff’s very nice like this. I don’t think he needs to be pushed. It’s the boys who think they’re such hot stuff that need to be pushed... pushed into simmering down.” Voula’s father nodded with a smile. “But I know. Geoff loves you, and he’ll tell you soon enough.” “And I take you to that store tomorrow and buy that blouse you liked!” her mother said. Voula began to gather her things to go up to bed, and as she stood, her mother touched Voula’s arm. “Has Geoff kissed you yet?” There was a twinkle in her eye. Voula shrugged, but noticed her father looking at her expectantly. Remembering how she deceived her father about the dance in the early fall, she resigned herself. “Just once. The first time... tonight... while we walked home. It was... more my idea.” “It’s about time,” Mrs. Grivogiannis remarked. “You mean you wanted me to?” Voula said in amazement. “It’s not a matter of want, Voula,” Leonidas said. “It’s a matter of... it’s gonna happen sooner or later if there’s someone really special in your life.” He paused, and with a rueful expression, he went on. “You’re not a little girl anymore. You’re growing up.” Voula felt a surge of gratitude at that. It made up for the remark back in September. “And I suppose you’re gonna say, that in the old country, if a boy and a girl kiss, they have to get married?” “Is that such a bad idea?!” her mother asked. Voula slowly broke a grin. “In this case... no, I guess not.” Her parents chuckled. “Good night, Voula,” her mother said. Voula bent down to kiss her mother. “Good night, Mama. Good night, Papa,” she said, then hugging her father and going upstairs practically weightless in her step. ** Mr. Grivogiannis rented out the Scarborough house and kept his family in Boulton. Stephanie Kaye faced a revolt on Tuesday 20 December, the last day of school before Christmas holiday. The student council was supposed to be balanced in membership between Grades 7 and 8, other than the president who did not vote except to break a tie. However, discounting the importance of the Grade 7s, Stephanie appointed Joey Jeremiah to a position reserved for the junior grade. On that last day, the students gathered en masse to protest and call for her ouster. Having discovered that Stephanie only made the appointment to make Wheels jealous, Joey declined the position, leaving egg on Stephanie’s face. Stephanie resolved to change herself. She seemed to have made all sorts of mistakes. She was actually civil to her brother Arthur – on school property! – when school let out at the end of the day. In the New Year, Stephanie early on threw out her racy clothes, which were quickly snapped up by Alexa. Stephanie also appointed Yick to the vacant position she’d intended to give to Joey, and at least for a few weeks, the Grade 7s were allowed some level of dignity in her sight. ** 15 February 1989 For some bizarre reason, in the middle of February, Stephanie put her mending friendship with Voula at risk. Having heard here and there about Voula’s high opinion of Geoff, Stephanie decided she wanted to check that opinion out for herself. She might support Erica’s long-stated desire to uprate Geoff from D minus to C plus... ***** End of fourth segment copyrighted story elements from the DJH episodes (#9) “What a Night!” and (#13) “Revolution”. Category:Blog posts